15 to 20 per cent turnout in first 4 hrs in 5th phase

New Delhi, May 13 (PTI) Braving summer heat, an
estimated 15 to 20 per cent of the voters turned up during the
first four hours of polling Wednesday for the fifth and final
phase of India's general elections which was by and large
peaceful.

Two scribes of private TV channels were injured when
they were allegedly attacked by activists of ruling Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) at Duneke village on the outskirts of Punjab's
Moga town when they recorded footage of party workers carrying
weapons in vehicles, police sources said.

One person was killed early Wednesday morning in a
clash between Trinamool Congress activists and Communist Party
of India-Marxist cadre at Baliguri on the outskirts of
Kolkata, before the polling began.

While Tamil Nadu recorded 22 per cent of voting till
1100 hrs, Uttar Pradesh registered 21 per cent, Puducherry 25
per cent, Punjab, West Bengal and Uttarakhand 15-20 per cent
each, Himachal Pradesh 12-15 per cent, Chandigarh 18 per cent
and Jammu and Kashmir six per cent.

Prominent candidates in the fray include Union Home
Minister P Chidambaram, Dravida Munnetra Kazhgham's T R Baalu,
Dayanidhi Maran and M K Azhagiri, Congress' Md Azharuddin,
BJP's Maneka and Varun Gandhi and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, MDMK's
Vaiko and Samajwadi Party's Jayaprada.

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chaterjee, CPI(M) leader
Brinda Karat, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa were among the early voters.

Cine star-turned-politician Jaya Prada, south Indian
superstar Rajinikanth, music composer A R Rahman and DMK
leader M K Stalin are among others who exercised their
franchise.

Voting is underway in 86 constituencies spread
across seven states and two union territories in this phase. A
total of 1,432 candidates are contesting.

Besides all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, elections are
being held to four seats in Himachal Pradesh, two in Jammu and
Kashmir, nine in Punjab, 14 in Uttar Pradesh, 11 in West
Bengal, five in Uttarakhand and the lone one seat each in both
Chandigarh and Puducherry.

Over 10.78 crore voters are eligible to exercise their
franchise across 1.21 lakh booths through EVMs.

Congress' Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sajjad Gani Lone of
People's Conference, BJP's Vinod Khanna and Navjot Singh Sidhu
are among other prominent faces in this round.

Polling has been completed to 457 Lok Sabha seats
since the exercise began on April 16. Results will be out on
May 16.

The Lok Sabha has 545 members, but elections are held
to 543 seats as two members are nominated from the
Anglo-Indian community. PTI